The Ferguson Effect. It’s a term that entered common American usage after the August 09, 2014 death of Michael Brown, according to the Democrat/socialist/communist (D/s/c) narrative, an unarmed black man, an 18 year old recent high school graduate with a bright future, murdered by a racist cop in Ferguson, Missouri, a racist town in a racist country.
But Brown, minutes before coming into contact with Ferguson Officer Darren Wilson, committed a strong-arm robbery. Brown, a 6’4”, nearly 300 pound, daily pot smoker and thug-in-training—his social media presence was full of thug themes–when approached by Wilson who asked him to stop walking down the middle of a busy street, viciously attacked Wilson, trapping him behind the steering wheel of his vehicle, badly beat him and tried to take his handgun. Wilson barely managed to retain it and in the struggle it discharged, slightly wounding Brown’s hand. Brown ran, but after a short distance, turned and lowering his head like a football lineman, made a berserker charge on Wilson who was forced to shoot Brown, stopping him essentially at his feet.
D/s/cs saw an opportunity for cash and political advantage and the “hands up; don’t shoot” narrative was born. Like every Brown narrative, it too was a lie. Brown never surrendered and never spoke. He was so big and powerful, Officer Wilson reasonably believed if Brown got to him again, he’d be killed. A local grand jury believed Wilson and the evidence, and amazingly so did the Obama DOJ, which grudgingly ruled Wilson’s use of force was justified.
And there it might have died but for the social justice/racial grievance industry, which eventually gave birth to the “defund the police” movement. Not that there wasn’t immediate fallout.
Wilson was forced to go into hiding and remains off the grid. The DOJ forced a consent decree on the Ferguson Police Department. Riots destroyed parts of Ferguson and property values have never recovered. And the effect on America’s police—the Ferguson Effect—has only worsened, particularly in D/s/c-ruled blue states and cities.
Particularly in those places, officers quickly got the message their politicians and police administrators weren’t going to back them. Doing their jobs, certainly if minorities were involved, would be far more likely to have bad consequences for them rather than the criminals they arrested. Pro-active policing, absolutely necessary to control crime, disappeared. “Stop and Frisk,” a basic, entirely constitutional and vital police tactic was abolished, ensuring criminals would no longer be caught with illegal guns, drugs and fruits of crimes. In Chicago, all a crook has to do to escape the police is run or drive away. Officers are forbidden to chase them. Officers did the minimum possible, and many came up with ways to avoid any call that might involve minority criminals.
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Graphic: Twitter Screenshot
With the death of Saint George Floyd in May of 2020, defunding the police really took off, and the Ferguson effect was magnified during and beyond “the summer of love.” Officers that could retire did. Others transferred to states and cities that allowed the police to do their jobs. Many quit the profession entirely and those that remained were—and remain—terribly over-stressed, over-worked, and loath to have any contact with criminals–particularly minority criminals–who unfortunately for honest local residents, comprise most of the criminals preying on them.
Blue state/city police forces have found recruiting almost impossible, and as a result have dramatically lowered their hiring and training standards. Unfit applicants with DUIs, and all manner of other misdemeanor convictions, as well as alcohol and drug problems have been hired. That hasn’t worked out well. DEI mandates have also ensured physically and psychologically unfit people have been given badges and guns. Even the FBI has been forced to hire and retain people who can’t meet minimum physical standards and can barely read or write.
As I recently noted in FBI Credibility?, D/s/c cities can’t admit their crime policies are abject, dangerous failures, so they’ve stopped reporting crimes to the FBI, which following D/s/c mandates, inaccurately reports crime rates. Even if honest reporting were done, the numbers would still be skewed. In those blue cities, the police, badly understaffed, no longer respond to most 911 calls, write few reports, and as always, officers do as little as possible, hoping to eventually retire and get a pension without being prosecuted and jailed for doing their jobs.
Cops have always been quick to pay attention when their “leaders” are ready to throw them to the political wolves, but a justified police use of force in Ferguson, Missouri forever changed American policing, and diminished American life.
Yet one more thing on the ballot on November 5.
Mike McDaniel is a USAF veteran, classically trained musician, Japanese and European fencer, life-long athlete, firearm instructor, retired police officer and high school and college English teacher. He is a published author and blogger. His home blog is Stately McDaniel Manor.
This article was originally published at www.americanthinker.com
